These silent black and white home movies dated 1926-1928 from Arthur A. Friestedt and family feature a tour of their business, the United States Music Company factory. U.S. Music was a leading publisher of sheet music and player piano rolls. The U.S. Music Co. was established in 1905. In 1926, around the time of this footage, the company was sold to radio tube manufacturer QRS. It went bankrupt, a victim of the Great Depression. Also on this film (and a sister reel at https://youtu.be/vu2A-AlaoPo) is an Arizona road trip, a visit to Havana, Cuba, a tour of Minnesota, damage from the Rockford, Illinois Tornado of 1928, a Chicago family reunion, and San Diego, California (TRT 1:03:40)
Intertitles dated January-June 1926 introduce Arthur A. Friestedt, U.S. Music Co. President. Then follows an overview of company personnel seated in a Chicago office. The Vice President, Sales Manager, Treasurer, Factory Manager, Recording Manager, and Credit Manager (0:08). The Chicago Sales Dept. (1:15). The Eastern Sales Division (3:16). Salesmen. A Credit Manager (4:34). Freistedt at the Commodore Hotel, New York, June, 6, 1926. Recording pianists, all playing piano (6:13). Inside the factory: The “Master Dept.” Employees work under hanging lamps, transcribing sheet music notation onto player piano rolls (8:22). “Master Machinery.” Several men rise to allow a view of belt-driven, typewriter-like devices for creating and copying sheet music (9:24). The “Perforating Dept.” of women punching perforated holes into piano rolls. A stockpile of rolled paper. Men wind cranks and carry scrolls (10:00). The “Finishing Dept.” and “Stencil Cutter.” A man “types” at a piano roll. Pans across the factory floor (11:18). “Stenciling Machines” use rubber belts to feed paper. A “Recording Machine” produces a finished piano roll (13:52). “Machine Shop” workers. “Order Tables.” Shelves stocked with boxed piano rolls. The “Shipping Dept.” (15:04).
Home movies: Dorothy Freistedt, in a cloche hat, plays with a terrier at Pistakee Bay, July, 1926 (17:30). Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, circa 1928. The Hohokam “Great House,” sheltered by a modern canopy, supported by wooden beams. Foundations of surrounding ruins (18:41). Claypool Tunnel. Rocky Arizona US 60 highway scenery (21:31). Roosevelt Lake, the Superstition Mountains, the Apache Trail (22:36). Cliff dwellings at Tonto National Monument (23:27). A panorama of Roosevelt Lake, Apache Lodge, the Salt River’s Roosevelt Dam near Phoenix. The Apache Trail passes above the dam. Views from higher elevation downstream, at a distance (25:02). Apache Lake vistas, cacti (28:35). Fish Creek Canyon (30:49). Canyon Lake (31:51). Superstition Mountain. Mrs. Friestedt with a saguaro cactus (32:36).
Cuba: A cluster of racing sailboats (31:30). A couple lounges on a bench near the shore. An upscale resort hotel with landscaped gardens. Men at a waterfront dock (35:50). A residential area. A distant ocean liner (36:22). Out of focus urban coastal skylines and harbor activity in Havana, Cuba (37:25). El Capitolio. Ads for life insurance, luxury cabins. Streets lined with palm trees, late 1920s automobiles. A man in a white suit, a woman in a necklace. Blurred skylines, historic architecture (39:24).
The Midwest: An expansive garden. A resort hotel with stone walls nestled in a forest. A resting man is teased with a magazine (42:19). The Minnesota end of the Hudson toll bridge leading into Wisconsin over the St. Croix River (45:15). A panorama of St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mississippi River in the foreground. The Minnesota State Capitol (46:25). Dells of the Wisconsin River from a sightseeing tour boat. Standing Rock. A railroad bridge at Kilbourne (47:43). A steam shovel demolishes a chair factory following the Rockford Illinois Tornado of 9/14/28 (50:12).”Homes in the path of the twister” (52:25). Women running in slow motion. A hand writes an intertitle. A family reunion north of Chicago (53:55). The Friestedt family greets one-another. Men wear fur coats and top hats. Women wear furs, children wear suits and caps. All smile and pose (56:01).
Southern California: An elevated panorama from the roof of the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego, California, 1928 shows Balboa Park, palm trees, coastal architecture (1:00:32). San Diego Bay, Naval Base San Diego, and Point Loma. The Pacific Ocean (1:01:34).
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
